French showboat may be unsinkable

Wales face an arrogant but supremely talented side today, with fewer weapons at their disposal than they had in Dublin

What has been the reaction of the Wales coaches to the obliteration of their forwards against Ireland in Dublin two weeks ago, and to the evidence that they are still cavalier about forging a pack to contest a proper Six Nations game? Well, they have selected a pack to play France today that seems to wield even less power.

The game is always changing. Maybe Steve Hansen, the Wales coach, is ahead of the game. Maybe these days, the second row is no longer the engine room of a rugby team, so nobody really needs two powerful giants there to provide the rest of the players with impetus.

Let’s hope that Hansen is proved right, because to field two locks as small and as slight as Brent Cockbain and Michael Owen — the latter a converted back-row man — at the heart of the Welsh team really does suggest that none of